Don't Feed the Fears
by cecilia.clare
Summary: Oriole can't do anything but think about Snyder after what happened. He can't sleep, he can't eat, he can't do anything but think. Then Sarah offers him something to help him take the next step in his life. Will he take the step or stay stuck in one place. (Sequel to Past is Catching Up.)


**Tada! here it is, Oriole is 12, Sarah is 21. This was a long work in progress, now you see how lame I am. But I had a lot going on, so sorry for my account kinda dying. But now I'm done with my play so I can work more, hopefully. **

It was weird being here now, Oriole stared up at the ceiling. He tried not to shift in the papers too much, he didn't want to wake up Romeo. He was just still trying to process everything, he had to go see Sarah in the morning for his wounds. Oriole hadn't been sleeping too well, he still couldn't shake the feeling that his father was going to come back for him. The papers crinkled softly under his arm, as he could still feel the warm blood trickling down his back since it had seeped through the bandages. He could see the sun starting to poke in through the window, he quietly rolled off the papers and got up. He went over to the window, and poked his head out and looked at Jack who was sitting on the firescape sketching a picture in the early morning light,

"Jack, Jack," he looked up from his drawing,

"Hey kid, come here." Oriole crawled out of the window and sat down next to Jack, "Are you ok Oriole?"

"I just… couldn't sleep."

"You just couldn't sleep for the past few nights, so what's going on?"

"I just can't shake the feeling that he's gonna come for me, I know he's locked up, but I just… I'm scared." Jack pulled Oriole into a hug,

"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you, he's not gonna hurt you." they heard a bell ring in the distance, "Let's get going, we need to rebandage you," he said, Oriole noticed the blood covering Jack's hands. He could feel his shirt sticking to his back. He looked at the ground, while Jack went inside to get bandages, Jack took off the old bandages. Clumsily he wrapped the wounds,

"I guess that's, that. Come on in," he said, Jack helped Oriole through the window, then Crutchie. The three of them walked to the square where they were surrounded by all the newsies he saw Blaze standing in the middle of the square. Her short auburn hair behind her ears, as her arms sat folded in front of her chest. She noticed him staring, she gave a small wave before turning around. She seemed nice-ish, cold, but she had been getting better at being nicer. Specs had been giving her lessons, he looked to see Romeo.

"Hey, I was looking for you this morning. Where did you go?"

"I just needed to change bandages. That's all."

"Don't scare me like that," he said wrapping an arm around him.

**A few days later…**

Jack looked up from the paper wagon where he was helping putting some things away with Crutchie. He saw Oriole sitting in the entrance of the square,

"That kid has way too much on his mind." Jack said picking up another bag from the pile.

"Yeah? How so,"

"He hasn't slept for a while, and I can't get him to eat. All he does is think, all day everyday. He can barely focus on selling papers,"

"I dunno, maybe try and have him talk to Sarah. He responds well to her,"

"He's way too young to be that hurt." Jack sat and watched Oriole from the back. He cleaned the rest of the things up before walking over to Oriole,

"Time for a visit to Sarah," Oriole nodded and tiredly got up. Jack noticed Oriole lagging behind and picked the tired kid up and placing him on his back. He felt Oriole rest his head on his shoulder, poor thing was exhausted. He carried Oriole all the way to Sarah's apartment, he knocked on the door, Oriole still asleep on his back.

"Hey Jack," she said as she opened the door, she noticed Oriole on his back, "Come on in," she whispered, he walked into the apartment and laid Oriole on the couch in the small opening room of the apartment. She tucked the small boy's figure in a blanket and placed a pillow under his head.

"Has he eaten anything, he looks like he hasn't eaten in days."

"He hasn't, not much sleep either." she took a deep breath,

"I'm gonna keep him for a few days, I'll take care of him. Now go home and rest." She shoved Jack out the door, and the door shut in his face. He walked back to the lodging house, he started to tuck different into bed. He walked over to get Romeo settled into bed,

"Where's Oriole?" Romeo whispered,

"He's with Sarah right now, he's kinda sick right now."

"Is he going to be ok?"

"I think so, he just needs to take a break from the newsies for a little while."

"Oh," he said quietly looking over at where Oriole used to sleep.

"It's gonna be ok buddy." Jack said rubbing Romeo's shoulder,

"Does he have to take a break forever?"

"No, he'll be back eventually."

* * *

Oriole's eyes fluttered open, he looked up to Sarah.

"Why are you in the lodging house?" he asked

"Your in my apartment," she said stroking his hair out of his eyes.

"Why?"

"Jack brought you here, he said you haven't eaten or slept in days." Oriole looked down at his hands in shame. He didn't really want to eat anything, if he was being honest. She continued to stroke his hair gently, "What do you want to eat,"

"I dunno,"

"Do you want some jam and bread, I have some." she whispered. He shrugged his shoulders, "I'm gonna make a little bit of broth, it'll help your stomach. Try and sleep." she said tucking him back under the covers. He closed his eyes again drifting off to sleep. A little while later she woke him up gently,

"Alright, I made some of this." she held up the bowl of the tinted liquid. "What kind of story do you want to hear?" she asked, helping him sit up.

"Can you tell me about your home?"

"Where I'm from there are buildings as trees." she said coaxing the first bit of broth into his mouth. "And there is a clock called Big Ben that taller than anything you've ever seen. And everyone dresses very colorfully, and sometimes if you stand outside the palace you can see the king walking down the hall. You can walk through parks of flowering trees," she continued to tell the story as she fed him like a small child. He spent days with Sarah listening to her stories, as he slowly came back to health.

**A few days later…**

"Alright, it's time to go back to the newsies." they walked back to the square together. Oriole saw Sarah hand Jack a paper as he was reunited with his friends. She walked over to him,

"Promise me you'll keep eating." she whispered in his ear, he nodded and hugged Sarah. Life went on as normal, he still had a hard time eating and sleeping, he had to go back to Sarah's a ton of times. He just couldn't stay healthy, but life had to continue. Keep pushing, Sarah was his saving grace. Sarah kept him alive, that's what Jack had said to Crutchie.

**A few months…**

Sarah came to the square and Oriole could see the tears tracks on her face, and her eyes were red and puffy.

"Sarah, are you ok?"

"I have something to tell you, well something to propose." he led her up to the roof, that's where all the newsies talked about hard things.

"Ok, so now you can tell me." he said as they got settled,

"I got a letter telling me that I need to come back to London for nursing. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that…" she offered him a packet of papers. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to become my official son, I know your like my son but we could make it legal. I can adopt you." he looked over the papers. "You don't have to give me an answer right now, I know it's a lot to process. I'll just need an answer in a few weeks because I have a boat to catch."

"I'll think about it," he said climbing back down and walking to the lodging house. Jack was sitting outside,

"Hey kid, what you got there?" he looked down at the adoption papers in his hand,

"Sarah has to move back to London, she wants to adopt me and for me to come with her." he said showing Jack the papers,

"I assume you haven't made a decision yet."

"No, I want to think about it first."

"Let's get you to bed." Oriole laid down in his bed next to Romeo. Thinking about it, he already knew what he wanted, what he needed, but could he leave all this behind?

**A few weeks later…**

He grabbed the adoption papers from a roll of Jack's paintings, he had made up his mind. It was time to open a new chapter in his life. He ran to Sarah's apartment, he flung open the door and hugged Sarah.

"Hey, what's this for?"

"For my mom," he said hugging her tighter.

"So you want to… become my son?" he nodded handing her the papers.

**A few hours later…**

All the newsies stood at the docs, saying their final goodbyes to Oriole. Romeo hugged him extra tight and held Crutchie's hand as Jack walked up to Oriole. He crouched down in front of him,

"I'm proud of you kid, this is a big step and your gonna do great things in life." he pressed a kiss to Oriole's forehead, "Be brave for me, ok?" he nodded hugging Jack with his small arms. Sarah and Oriole got onto the boat waving goodbye to the large crowd of newsies, a new chapter in his life was beginning.

**Almost a year later…**

"Delivery for a Mr. Jack Kelly!" Jack opened the door and took a pile of letters from the mailman,

"Thank you." he went in and passed out the individual letters from Oriole to each newsie. They all took turns reading their letters aloud to the group about Oriole's grand adventures in London, he had even seen the king just like Sarah said. It's hard having people move on in life, but they're never really gone. Oriole had finally moved on with his life, he had been taking steps, this time he had taken a leap of faith.


End file.
